


Hypothetical Questions

by fangirlingwithFDR



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-21
Updated: 2015-02-02
Packaged: 2018-03-02 17:56:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2821106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingwithFDR/pseuds/fangirlingwithFDR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin Hood and Marian have an overdue conversation after she narrowly escapes the Snow Queen's curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys. This is my very first fanfiction. So I'm gonna need TONS of feedback from y'all. If it sucks, let me know. If it's so awesome your brain melts, let me know. If you think space aliens are invading next week, most definitely let me know. I can only improve, right?
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters in it. Because if I did, it would probably just be about Mulan and Aurora and their 2.5 kids and nice neighborhood and white picket fence.

Robin’s first instinct was to hug his wife. Even though he was sure he was in love with Regina, Marian was still his first love and he was positively giddy he didn’t have to lose her again. But when Marian threw her arms around his neck, Robin couldn’t help but feel like he was being dishonest with her. He extracted himself from her embrace. Regina had already dismissed herself from the vault after hearing about twenty heartfelt “thank you”s fall from Marian’s recently defrosted lips. Robin couldn’t blame her. It was downright painful hearing his wife profess such sincere gratitude to the woman her husband had cheated on her with. Especially while standing in the very room the betrayal had occurred in. 

Robin wasn’t some disillusioned fool. He knew that Marian wouldn’t care that he was in love with Regina, and that his love was the cause of his indiscretion. As a matter of fact, Robin was acutely aware of the fact that this revelation would most likely do nothing more than rub salt in the wound of his infidelity. So he resolved to tell Marian what happened while she was comatose as promptly as he could and take his lumps like a man of honor. Like the man Marian had helped him to become.

“Marian, there’s something I need to ask you,” Robin sat on the bed and gestured that Marian should do the same. She studied him, curious as to the pained expression on his face. “Marian, what if I told you that while you were frozen, I became” he paused, searching his vocabulary for the proper term for his relationship with Regina “intimately involved with Regina?”

Robin expected rage. He was prepared for sadness. He had even braced himself for Marian’s possible escape from the conversation. But Marian’s actual reaction literally blew him away. She blinked up at him twice, as if taking his inquiry into serious consideration. And then she proceeded to erupt into the deepest belly laugh Robin had ever heard her produce. Robin had heard all manner of giggles,chuckles, and scoffs Marian made. He treasured every single one he ever extracted from his normally too-somber-for-her-own-good wife. But the sound she was making now- with literal snorts, mind you,- was completely new to him. He was beginning to feel insulted by the mirth Marian was displaying at his heartfelt confession.

Marian was laughing so hard tears were running down her face. She paused to wipe her eyes and caught a glimpse of her husband’s miffed expression, which set her off in a whole new wave of giggles. Robin wondered briefly if she was having a stroke. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just” Marian’s speech broke off as another set of giggles escaped her. “Fate hates me so much. I mean, she really hates me. And she must really like using Regina to do her bidding. In one life, Regina mounts my head on a spike. And in this one, she bangs my husband and makes sure to be a better mom to my son than I can be. It’s just so very deliciously ironic. Karma truly is a big, fat, ugly bitch.”

Robin is stupefied, flabbergasted, and utterly confused. “I don’t understand”, he says simply, and it feels like the the understatement of the year.

Marian nods her agreement. “I’m not quite sure I understand it all, either.”

Robin shakes his head emphatically “No, that’s not what I mean. Marian, you are the sweetest, kindest, most generous woman I have met. If there is one person in the world who deserves better than this from Fate, hell, from me, it’s you. Why aren’t you more upset about this?”

Marian looks wistful for a moment. “Since we’re phrasing life-changing confessions as hypothetical questions today, is it possible that I’m not as sweet, kind, or generous as you believe me to be?”

Robin ponders the question for a beat. “No. It’s not possible. You most definitely are who I say you are. You cleaned my pathetic arse up and turned me into a productive member of society. You gave me the greatest gift in the world the day you delivered my son. And then you sacrificed your life to save an innocent woman. That was all done out the goodness of your heart.”

Marian barked out a bitter laugh at this. “Most of that was done out of guilt and a weird dogmatic view of the universe. Robin, I had a life before you. A life that definitely wasn’t one of honor or goodness. That’s why I fought so hard for you and the potential I always saw you had. Because I saw goodness in you that made me want to be better. And loving you, it made me better. Believing in you made me believe in myself. But I am so far from perfect. And I think it’s time you see how imperfect I truly am.”

Robin doesn’t like where this conversation is going. “Marian, please. Don’t do anything we’re both going to regret.”

Marian smiles sadly at him and takes a deep breath. “Robin. What if I told you there is a strong possibility that Roland isn’t your son?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robin reacts to Marian's confession. There's alcohol, dart boards, and a conversation with Regina about raising other people's sons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh guys. It's been WAY TOO LONG since I've updated this. So sorry! First AO3 wouldn't let me post, then my grandfather who raised me passed away and I just wasn't in the mood. But I'm back now. And good news: I have the rest of the story plotted out. Probably four more chapters after this. Once again, this is my first fanfiction, so feedback would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks for following the story, and I hope you enjoy!

Robin was speechless. Marian waited for a verbal reaction but it was unforthcoming. He sat in stone silence for nearly six minutes. Marian just looked at him while he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he stood and walked towards the door, leaving Marian behind.

"Where are you going? You don't have anything to say?" she called after him wearily. She was tired. She didn't want to argue with Robin but they needed to have this conversation. What she really wanted was a good meal, to hold her son, and to cry for a couple of hours. Her best friend, her confidant, her husband, her Robin had slept with another woman. And not just any woman. The woman whose cruelty had ripped her away from her child for three years. Three years she would never get back.

Immediately, Marian chastised herself for that thought. Regina had changed. She wasn't the same woman who imprisoned and murdered her in a different life. It was unfair of Marian to judge her for the person she had been in the past. Besides, Regina hadn't made vows to be faithful and true. Robin had. And Robin had decided to break those vows. As much as it hurt, this was between Marian and Robin. They couldn't place blame on anyone else. 

Robin spoke and broke Marian out of her pondering. 

"Marian, I can't be near you right now. Go back to camp. It's not far from here. I'm going back into town. I'll get a room at Granny's tonight, and you and Roland can meet me there in the morning for breakfast. We'll eat together, then I'll find him a sitter and we'll talk. But right now, if I don't get away from you, I might do something I'll regret. Don't follow me. Don't call after me. Don't try to contact me. Just stay away from me for now. It's for your own good."

Marian watched Robin walk away. She waited until she could no longer see the green of his vest or hear his boots snapping twigs before she erupted into tears.

As Robin walked towards Granny's, he replayed every precious moment he had ever had with his son. The day the midwife placed the wailing, red-faced infant in his arms, declaring him the healthiest sounding boy in all the realms. When Roland took his first steps at only seven months old, eager to keep up with the bustling camp of Merry Men he was surrounded by. His first word, which was unsurprisingly "Papa". How could Marian possibly say Roland wasn't his? Roland was more Robin's than he was Marian's! He'd been there, every day since Roland's first; loving him, protecting him, nurturing him.

As he entered Granny's and ordered his first drink, he resolved to drink until he forgot his own name. But the more he drank, the more odd memories here and there popped into his head. Somewhere around the middle of his third whiskey and second lost game of darts, he remembered the horror of watching Pan's shadow grabbing Roland. After his fifth whiskey, but before his third shot of tequila, he recalled his relief of seeing Regina rescue Roland from that horrible flying monkey and the joy on Roland's face when his hero presented him with a stuffed toy.

That reminded him of Regina. In his impaired state, he dragged himself through the streets of Storybrooke and toward her front door. No matter how cloudy his head was, his heart always pulled him towards her, like opposite poles of a magnet. He knocked ferociously and loudly, until Regina opened the door looking annoyed.

When she saw it was Robin, her face hardened even more in determination.

"You shouldn't be here, Robin. Go home. To your wife."

Robin drunkenly protested "I just have one question for you." he slurred out.

Regina crinkled her nose at the stench of liquor on Robin's breath.

"You're drunk" she declared regally. She softened at how utterly defeated he appeared though. His next sentence completely crushed all of her resolve to turn him away.

"It's about Henry". Regina moved out of the doorway and gestured for him to enter her sitting room. She felt a twinge of sadness as she remembered the last time they had been here together, having a picnic inside and discussing their previous loves. She shook it off, though.

"I would offer you a drink, but it's abundantly clear you've had more than enough this evening. You said you had a question about Henry. Ask."

"Well that smarts. Not even a 'how are you?'" Robin tried to be charming, but his heart just wasn't in it. Regina crossed her arms in front of her, as if guarding her heart from an unseen adversary trying to yank it from her chest.

"It's late. You're drunk. Not to mention married. We agreed to stay away from each other once I unfroze Marian. She's unfrozen, yet you're in my sitting room. This isn't good for anyone, least of all me. You said you had a question about my son. Ask it, then get the hell out of my house. Please." Regina broke eye contact with Robin then. She finished in a small voice.

"There's only so much a person can take."

Robin's heart ached to see Regina in such a sad state. It struck him that at that very moment Marian must be feeling something similar to the pain he himself was feeling. He found himself frustratedly gritting his teeth. In one day he had managed to hurt both of the women he loved. And to top it all off, he'd gotten his own heart broken. Despite his best efforts it was impossible to make everyone happy. He loved Marian, truly and deeply, but she said Roland might not be his son. He loved Regina, but he wasn't ready to cut ties with Marian, especially not before he cleaned up this mess with Roland's parentage. He loved his son fiercely, but if what Marian said was true, he would resent both her and the innocent child in the middle of this strife. He decided to ask Regina. Maybe she could help him sort through the sea of indecision he was currently floating in.

"How did you do it? Raise Henry, knowing he was never truly yours?"

Regina's initial reaction was to step away from Robin in shock. Whatever she was expecting him to say, it most definitely wasn't that. Her next reaction was to summon invisible hands to lift him off the ground by his neck, choking the breath out of him.

"How dare you? You come into my home against my wishes, and say Henry was never truly mine? I raised him! I cared to him when Emma threw him away like some defective product! I'm the one who loved him! He IS mine! He always has been!"

Her voice had taken on an edge that Robin had never heard before. Her eyes were flashing and Robin couldn't breath. He gathered enough breath to say something, anything to make her release the magic currently suffocating him. Before he could get a word out, Regina appeared to sag into herself, and released the hold on Robin's neck. He fell to the floor in a heap, gasping for air as Regina lowered herself to the couch and began rocking back and forth nervously.

"I-I'm sorry Robin. I shouldn't have done that."

Robin wheezed out a chuckle, dragging himself to his feet.

"No I'm sorry. There were a million ways I could have phrased that question without insulting your motherhood of Henry. Of course he's yours. Any fool on the street can tell that. Including the one in your sitting room."

Regina visibly relaxed, seeing that Robin wasn't in a huge hurry to run out of her door yelling how evil she was into the night. Regina normally kept a tight rein on her anger; she had to these days, to avoid being branded the Evil Queen. But something inside her lashed out whenever people implied that she wasn't Henry's real mother. She didn't have foster or adoptive love for her son. She had fierce, true love. Henry was the love of her life. She would kill and die for him. It was the worst insult whenever people treated Emma with some elevated position in Henry's life simply because she gave birth to him. It was almost as bad as every moment when Henry himself would look through her and call her the Evil Queen.

Robin cleared his throat embarrassedly.

"Well, now that I've made a complete arse of myself, I'll just be on my way."

"But I never answered your question..." Regina said as she felt a bitter taste at the words. Now that she had calmed, she remembered the look of total sincerity on Robin's face as he asked the question. He wasn't trying to attack her. He only wanted to know something. She felt a pang of remorse for her outburst, which triggered another pang of annoyance that he was able to elicit such an elusive emotion in her. She hated that question and honestly had no real answer for him, but she felt obligated to respond because Robin was being such a good sport about her little temper tantrum. So she was relieved when Robin humbly stated in his most gentle voice,

"There's no need. I got all of the answers I needed from you. You showed me how you felt about Henry much better than you could've told me. I'll just be on my way. Good night, Regina." Robin left the house too quickly for Regina to respond. 

Regina stood and locked the door feeling slightly patronized but most grateful that Robin wasn't like most of the people from the Enchanted Forest. If it had been Leroy she had attacked, half of the town would have heard of the return of the Evil Queen by now. And then where would she be?


End file.
